Over and Under Tangled Up in You
by jaded river hussie
Summary: 10  mostly chronological  drabble snapshots of the progression of a meaningless fling between Drake and Mindy into something more. All parts set after the events of the episode "Mindy Loves Josh." COMPLETE


**Title: **Over and Under (Tangled Up in You)

**Rating:** T

**Word Count:** 1335

**Pairings: **Drake/Mindy, a little Josh/Mindy

**Disclaimer/Notes:** Just playing in the sandbox; I do not own any of the characters. / Reviews are love!

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><p><strong>I. Naughty<strong>

It's a brand new dirty little secret and it excites her when Drake walks through the front door while she's sitting on the sofa studying with Josh.

"Hey Josh. Witch."

"Cerebrally challenged slacker."

"You guys…" Josh whines, briefly glancing up from the study guide Mindy prepared.

A charged look passes between Mindy and Drake before he starts up the stairs. A minute passes and Mindy excuses herself to the restroom. She walks briskly up the stairs and knocks softly on the bathroom door. The door swings open, Drake's hand shoots out and wraps around Mindy's arm and he yanks her inside the small room, the force of his lips coming down on hers, his body pressing into her, pushing her back against the door, shutting it.

**II. Crushed**

Mindy doesn't expect flowers or candy from Drake on Valentine's Day. This thing, this fling of theirs, is still in its infancy and they've both made it abundantly clear that they're only using the other to satisfy their raging teenage hormones.

They've spent the past few weeks making out in secret, separately entering and exiting theatres at The Premiere, the time in between spent tucked in dark corners in the back of the theatre.

Drake sends her a text asking how late she's going to be awake. Mindy stays up past midnight, waiting for him to tap on her window. It's the first time since they've started this torrid affair that Drake lets her down.

**III. Devious**

She starts flirting with Josh again to mess with Drake's head, which he fully deserves. She watches Drake shamelessly flirt with other girls, taking them on dates, holding their hands and kissing them in public—something he'll never do with her because if what they're doing gets out, the novelty and excitement will wear off, the passion will fizzle and fade, and she's not ready for that yet.

When her cousin Chad moves to town and she starts spending most of her time with, ignoring Drake's texts, she can tell that she's sparked his interest again. Unfortunately for him, she also has Josh's full attention.

She gets the greatest sense of self-satisfaction when Drake walks in on her and Josh making out.

**IV. Sinful**

There's never time for them to just lay there, tangled in each other, and just be. There's no time for cuddling, if they ever felt so inclined. There might be time for round two, depending on how much foreplay was involved. It's probably just as well so that they can't dwell on how messed up this whole situation is.

It's difficult to drag herself out of Drake's bed but it always happen towards the end of Josh's shifts. It's like they wait until the last possible minute to start pawing at each other, clothes tossed over the sofa and on the floor. They know Josh will be home soon and maybe that's why, because there's a tiny part of both of them that wants to get caught or that's turned on by the prospect of Josh finding them together.

**V. Vulnerable**

Drake's spending more time playing with his band than he is pulling her, or letting himself be pulled, into quiet shadows for quick bursts of pleasure. She starts looking at Josh again, remembering how he always made time for her, how they had a _real_ relationship, and she misses that, she misses him and public displays of affection.

She misses affection, something that she and Drake don't share. Lust is nice but wouldn't love be better?

It seems like Drake doesn't even notice that she's spending more and more time with Josh once again. He doesn't even bat an eye when Josh kisses her in front of everyone at Helen's wedding.

**VI. Restless**

Mindy feels guilty now every time that she makes out with Josh in the bedroom that he shares with Drake. When Josh's lips trail down her neck and all she can do is stare at Drake's bed and wonder if she'd know what sheets are under the comforter from touch alone.

She never worries about Drake interrupting them—but she keeps hoping that he will—because he's spending most days, evenings, and nights in L.A., working on his album. She briefly entertains the fanciful notion that he's staying away because he can't stand to see her back with Josh.

She doesn't sleep as well after these sessions with Josh as she did after her trysts with Drake.

**VII. Nostalgic**

There's a moment when no one is around when, knowing that she and Josh are together, Drake accosts her under the mistletoe, the flashing colored lights from the tree casting a kaleidoscope around them. Her first instinct is to push him away and slap him because it's been months since she's felt his lips or his hands on her body and her on-again off-again relationship with her brother is currently on. Instead, she folds with a whimper, her tongue sliding into his mouth with ease.

"I've missed you," he admits, his arms around her waist, holding her close to him.

She can't help but to sound bitter, "You've missed having me in your bed."

"I've missed having you period." There's sincerity in his eyes, she's not familiar with that but it warms her.

"I've missed you too."

**VIII. Guilty**

Mindy, as firmly and as gently as she is able to, breaks up with Josh for the final time after the New Year, telling him that there's someone else and she doesn't want to be emotionally unfaithful. (She tells herself that the kiss at Christmas didn't count because she and Drake were just following tradition and they didn't let it go any farther.) He cries a little and she feels like a horrible person because she knows that Josh is going to be all the more devastated when he finds out that she's choosing Drake over him.

It hurts _her_ when she realizes that these last several months, she's just been bidding her time with Josh, waiting for Drake to realize that she was the girl for him all along.

**IX. Anxious**

They've been hiding, being each other's secret, and keeping up appearances for so long now, Mindy doesn't want the world to know, especially since Drake's music career is taking off. She doesn't want to live in his shadow or crawl in the limelight surrounding him. The paparazzi isn't following his every move yet but whenever they catch a glimpse of him out and about, there's another dozen pictures.

She doesn't like the idea that the spark of romance blooming between them, building on lustful embers, might be captured and put on display for all the world to see. She doesn't want to be the mystery girl he's spotted out with, that his fans are going to irrationally hate. She wants what they have to remain special and private. If they could just continue on shutting the world out, everything would be perfect.

As they lie in her bed, Drake tries his best to kiss all of her reservations away.

**X. Happy**

The best thing about Drake touring during the summer is that it allows Mindy the opportunity to go with him and she takes it with little hesitation, against her parents' wishes. There are tons of groupies and fangirls in every city trying to get a piece, a taste, of Drake Parker. Mindy watches silently, from the sidelines, while girls and women throw themselves at him; Drake gets into the habit of making a show of winking at her from across the room while he's signing autographs, she both hates and loves how it sends the butterflies in her stomach into a frenzy and makes her blush. It amuses her to watch him wriggle away from over-enthusiastic and arduous crowds, occasionally tossing panicked looks, begging for help, in her direction so that he can make it back to the safety of the green room, the hotel, or the tour bus and to her in one piece.

Everytime he finally shoves his way through the crowd to where she's waiting from him, he takes her by the hand and kisses her.

_***FINIS***_


End file.
